• Hi all. We have had reports of member's signatures being edited to include malicious content. You can rest assured this wasn't done by staff and we can find no indication that the forums themselves have been compromised.

    However, remember to keep your passwords secure. If you use similar logins on multiple sites, people and even bots may be able to access your account.

    We always recommend using unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication if possible. Make sure you are secure.
  • Be sure to join the discussion on our discord at: Discord.gg/serebii
  • If you're still waiting for the e-mail, be sure to check your junk/spam e-mail folders

Which instrument do you think has effected the music world the most?

Ethan

Banned
I thought this would be actually, quite an interesting discussion. Which instrument, in your opinion, has had the most impact on the way music is today? The two most arguable candidates would be the piano and the guitar. I personally would have to say the piano because it goes way back and formed the bulk of European classical music as well as playing a big part in blues too.

Thoughts?
 

Tim the turtle

Happy Mudkip
Cop out answer: The human voice ^_^
 

The_Panda

恭喜發財
Definitely the piano. If not for the fact it basically has the widest repertoire of all the instruments and is more or less ubiquitous, it's significance for composition basically cannot be surpassed. The piano allows for complex harmony and interplay between voices to be done with relative ease, meaning that composers and songwriters can very easily write melodies, harmonies and bass lines. I think the fact that almost all pieces of music up until the invention of computer composition programs were written alongside the piano, regardless of what instrument it was for, speaks for itself.
 

tharjaandme

Trash Mainer
I may be over-complicating it but I think you're asking two different questions.
The impact on the way music is today? Guitar for its sheer versatility. It can take many a form and has cemented itself into most genres.
Affected the music world the most? Vocals all the way.
 

JerisEnigma

Unemployed Red Mage
I vote guitar. I changed the face of modern music and yet opened up so many different genres. It can play coombaya or death metal and be perfect at both. The piano really only goes so far and always has a certain feel, while the guitar just seems so much more versatile. Sure, the piano is a classic and 'cultured' but it also seems to stay in the same sort of genres... Its old fashioned and has pretty much reached its limits as far as I see.
 

Yonowaru in Chaos

gaspard de la nuit
The piano really only goes so far and always has a certain feel, while the guitar just seems so much more versatile. Sure, the piano is a classic and 'cultured' but it also seems to stay in the same sort of genres... Its old fashioned and has pretty much reached its limits as far as I see.

This is wrong on so many levels. Likewise, can the guitar (except for the classical/Spanish guitar) have its place in fine music? Definitely not. Such a classical, universal sound as the piano in Western music can and never will tarnish. The instrument is versatile, manipulable and is capable of more 'genres' than you think. Does Rachmaninoff's famous C-sharp Minor Prelude have the same feel as Debussy's Golliwog's Cakewalk or Chopin's Nocturne Op. 72 No. 1? Or even anything else from modern commercial music? Add in electronic synths and the capabilities stretch even further. The piano is as familiar to the common ear as the guitar is and this is irrefutable. Of course, I'm not suggesting that the piano has a bigger impact in the zeitgeist than the guitar, even if its capabilities are greater, but to say that the piano has reached its limits is a bit ridiculous.
 

Rave

Banned
I'd say the harmonica.
 
The piano. Followed by the guitar and, thanks to some liberally-applied favoritism, the saxophone.

Since others have already gone over it, I shouldn't have to explain this.
 

octoboy

I Crush Everything
I'd say the guitar. So many genres of modern music have this instrument as their staple one. It's also an instrument that many people actually often learn to play voluntarily, and can pick up without too much difficulty. Maybe I just live in a certain day and age, or maybe I just know a few people with a musical ear, but I certainly don't remember any movies portraying kids back in the day fiddling (heh heh) with a violin.

But on that note (ha ha!), I'd have to say the violin and its string kin were a very important breakthrough in music, old as they are. String instruments are very versatile (the instrumental equivalent of the human voice, as my father calls them), and have been used in classical music, movie accompaniments, fiddle rhythms and so forth. The string family is extremely staple in the music world for sure, and even have worked their way into some pop-music.

A third contender would be the drum. Though whether this would count or not, I'm not quite sure, because the drum just might have been the beginning of music anyway. But still, it is a very important part of just about any type of music you can think of (okay, maybe not so much bluegrass...).

One of those three. But they've all made their contributions in some way.
 

Ash-kid

Ash-kid
Definitely the Guitar.
It put a new paints and voices that were not before.
 

Hammerheart

Son of Wōden
"the way music is today" Id say the Synthesiser

Historically though, The Violin.

In terms of more rock based music obviously the guitar.

But Im sort of agreeing with Tim, overall, the Voice.
 
Last edited:

SickWithIt

The Truth
Drums/percussion, all cultures have them. They bring the heartbeat to the music and the world.
 
Top